Launch of the District Health Barometer 2010/11

On 23 February 2012 Health Systems Trust (HST) launched the District Health Barometer (DHB) 2010/11. The DHB is a tool through which managers in the health sector can monitor and evaluate not only trends in health status and service delivery but also the underlying quality of routinely collected health information in South Africa. continue reading

South Africa’s Census 2011

In October the Census 2011 was conducted in South Africa by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the national statistics agency. It is not solely counting how many people live in the country, but information is also collected on gender, age, education, living conditions, access to basic services etc. continue reading

Highlights from the AIDS conferences

In the past months there were two important AIDS conferences: the 5th South African AIDS conference which was held from 7-10 June 2011 in Durban and the 6th IAS conference on HIV pathogenesis, treatment & prevention which was held from 17-20 July 2011 in Rome. Here I highlight some of the most important study findings that were presented at these conferences. continue reading

Zimbabweans in Louis Trichardt at high risk of diarrhoea

Thando Gwetu, one of the Master of Public Health students I supervised while working at the University of Venda, conducted a study on the prevalence and risk factors for diarrhoea among adult Zimbabwean immigrants in Louis Trichardt. The results were published as a scientific letter – of which I am the second author - in the April 2011 issue of the South African Medical Journal. continue reading

How do doctors and dentists experience their community service?

The main objective of a study initiated by Africa Health Placements was to review the experiences of the 2009 cohort of Community Service doctors and dentists, the factors that are related to that experience and the relation with their plans for the future. Furthermore, the study aimed to make recommendations for improvement of CS in order to meet its objectives. continue reading

Updated ART treatment guidelines: WHO and South Africa

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revised several guidelines on the treatment of HIV with ART in PMTCT and for children, adolescent and adults which they presented during the XVIII International AIDS Conference held form 18-23 July 2010 in Vienna, Austria. continue reading